Seven represents the number of consecutive national championships won by the Women’s Lacrosse team between 1995-2001

Varsity Women’s Lacrosse at Maryland debuted in the fall of 1974 as a member of the now-defunct Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Led by Coach Sue Tyler, the program quickly rose to spectacular levels; of the five AIAW Division I championship games held between 1977-1982, Maryland appeared in four, and won its first title in 1981.

After 1982, women’s sports were integrated into the NCAA, and the Lady Terps continued their dominant level of play. The team competed in three straight national championships starting in 1984 and won their second title on home turf, defeating Penn State at Byrd Stadium in 1986.

Terrapin #39 in action against Harvard during 1986, from the 1987 Terrapin yearbook

Cindy Timchal took over the coaching duties from Sue Tyler in 1991, and during this period, Maryland would evolve from one of the better teams in the country into the best women’s lacrosse program in NCAA history. Starting in 1990, the Lady Terps would be involved in all but one national championship game until 2001, missing out only in 1993. The team won its third national title in 1992, but the march to truly astronomical levels of success commenced three years later. Beginning in 1995, Maryland would win every single national championship in women’s lacrosse until 2001, seven in all, making them back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back champions. During that monster run, the teams lost a total of only five games, compiling an overall record of 140-5 over seven seasons. The Lady Terps took home 6 ACC titles during that span and recorded four perfect seasons.

1996 Media Guide

1997 Media Guide

1998 Media Guide

1999 Media Guide

2000 Media Guide

2001 Media Guide

2002 Media Guide

Current head coach Cathy Reese took over the women’s program in 2007 and helped perpetuate its storied tradition. In 2010, Maryland prevented Northwestern from assembling its own unbroken string of national championships by defeating the Wildcats at nearby Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson. Even more recently, the Lady Terps won back-to-back national titles in 2014 and 2015. Now the dominant power in the Big 10 Conference, Maryland has won the conference title every year since leaving the ACC and should continue its dominance this spring. You can catch the action yourself at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex located at the northeastern end of campus, near the Xfinity Center!

Terrapin midfielder Taylor Cummings (21), cradles the ball as midfielder Erin Collins (12) and defender Casey Pepperman (13) look on during the national championship game at St. Joseph’s against North Carolina, May 24, 2015; Greg Fiume and TJ Root for Maryland Athletics

This is a post in our new series on Terrapin Tales called UMD123! Similar to our “ABC’s of UMD” series in fall 2015, posts in this series will take a look at the university’s history “by the numbers.” New posts will come out twice a month throughout the summer; on the Terrapin Tales blog, search “UMD123” or use the UMD123 tag. You can also check out Twitter#UMD123. If you want to learn more about campus history, you can also visit our encyclopedia University of Maryland A to Z: MAC to Millennium for more UMD facts.